FAQs

You can have your say by:

• Completing the feedback form available at the bottom of this project page.
• Sending your comments to engage@ahc.sa.gov.au
• Speaking with our project team via 8400 0400
• Sending a letter to Annual Business Plan, PO Box 44 Woodside SA 5244
• Dropping your hard copy feedback form to one of our libraries in Stirling, Gumeracha or Woodside. 

We need your feedback by no later than 5pm on Thursday 18 June.

Copies are available at each of our libraries (Gumeracha, Stirling and Woodside).

You can request a hard copy to be sent to you by calling 8400 0400 or emailing engage@ahc.sa.gov.au 

An annual business plan is a document that details a council’s budget for the coming financial year. It outlines how revenue will be raised, and which programs, projects and services will be delivered using that revenue. 

Annual business plans also show how the financial year’s programs, projects and services will contribute to delivering the goals outlined in council’s four-year strategic plan, and how the budget relates to their long-term financial plan.

Councils raise most of their revenue through rates. The Local Government Act 1999 requires councils to clearly explain and justify their decisions about how they set their rates and distribute (or ‘spend’) those funds. This includes communicating with and consulting their communities to achieve the best possible balance between the rates required and the services delivered.

To develop our Draft Annual Business Plan 2020-21 and set this year’s rates, Council carefully considered a range of factors, including:

• what we need to do this year to ensure we achieve the broader goals outlined in our Strategic Plan 2020-24 – A Brighter Future, which were identified in close consultation with our community
• how our actions this year will support our Long-term Financial Plan, which ensures we operate fairly, responsibly and sustainably now and into the future
• the mix of projects, programs and services we need to deliver to meet community expectations and aspirations
• our known and anticipated costs, risks and opportunities.

We recently reshaped our initial plans for 2020-21 in order to consider the impact of the Cudlee Creek bushfire and the subsequent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This included revising, and lowering, the rate increase we had initially proposed. 

The resulting Draft Annual Business Plan 2020-21 is focused on sustainable recovery: supporting the Adelaide Hills community through these challenging times while continuing to deliver vital services, staying on track with important capital works, and keeping our existing assets and infrastructure in good shape to serve our community now and into the future. 

Page 30 of the Draft Annual Business Plan 2020-21 provides further detail about the factors that have influenced this year’s budget.

The rate proposed in our Draft Annual Business Plan 2020-21 is a general rate increase of 2.95%, which will allow us to maintain financial sustainability as well as fund our initiatives to support businesses and community members who have been impacted by the Cudlee Creek bushfire and COVID-19.

For a residential property of average value, this equates to an increase of approximately $59 across the 2020-21 year. (Rate increases may vary from the average where there has been new development, capital improvements or significant changes to the value of the property.)

Rates revenue accounts for 85% of our Council’s operating income (with grants, fees and charges making up the majority of our remaining operating income).

You’ll find a financial overview in the Fact Sheet in the Document library (on this site) on page 28 of the full Draft Annual Business Plan 2020-21. 

Please explore the Draft Annual Business Plan 2020-21 for a detailed breakdown of the proposed budget for Council’s projects, programs and services.

All feedback received by 5.00pm on Thursday 18 June 2020 will be consolidated and presented to Council. 

Council will consider the consolidated feedback before finalising the Annual Business Plan 2020-21.

We will provide details on this site as soon as the final Annual Business Plan 2020-21 is finalised and adopted.

We will include a Summary Annual Business Plan 2020-21 by post to all ratepayers with our rates notices in late July/early August. You will also be able to download the summary and the full document online at ahc.sa.gov.au